


They Stole My Thief

by Griffin_Lokison



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Ezekiel Jones, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 08:57:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16636862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griffin_Lokison/pseuds/Griffin_Lokison
Summary: Jacob Stone has recently been seemingly getting closer to Ezekiel and they've been doing a lot of their teamwork with each other. So the others have been teasing them, calling them a couple. Ezekiel seems cool with it, but Stone decides it's time to start avoiding him, pretty sure that's not how it is. But a huge eye opener is about to come his way.





	1. Confrontation

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 Summary: Ezekiel is tired of Stone avoiding him. He is quick to confront him.

The Library was actually pretty quiet for the first time in awhile. There was nobody arguing over facts and art, or being driven up the walls by the local thief. They were just all too busy, apparently, to be making much noise. 

Ezekiel was creeping through the aisles with bookshelves towering over him. He didn't care. He never cared about books and stuff. Just more cover for the best thief in existence. Besides, he was more focused on the ambush he was about to put into action. He quickly ducked down as a book by his head was pulled out from the other side. Apparently whomever he was stalking didn't want to come around to the other side to retrieve it. Good thing the bookshelves were able to even do that. Better yet, Ezekiel's position was still secret. 

The Australian rounded the end of the bookshelf, his eyes resting on the back of the person he'd been waiting to catch alone, the one he'd been basically stalking. He walked up as swiftly, but silently, as possible. Then he stabbed his fingers into the person's sides as he exclaimed, "Found you!" 

A laugh escaped him as the person jumped, then whirled around. Jacob Stone was now glaring down at the thief, obviously not appreciating the way Ezekiel decided to get his attention. 

Ezekiel was undeterred. In fact, he was used to it. Recently, however, he found that Stone seemed a bit slower to anger with him, not as quick to fight. He wrote it off as that he'd finally earned Jacob's respect, or maybe a romance like everyone kept joking about.... But he doubted it. He gave a light smack to Stone's arm as he grinned up at him. "Well, Stone, how've ya been? Seems like we haven't been seeing each other as much." 

Stone shifted uncomfortably, pursing his lips as he looked everywhere but at Ezekiel. Then he heaved a sigh. "I've been doing fine. Now I have work to do, so excuse me." He turned and began to walk away. 

Ezekiel followed after him, pretty annoyed that he'd been written off like that. So he decided to just talk away about what he'd been doing without Jacob Stone. "So Cassandra and I went out for ice cream because the Clippings Book wasn't offering us anything to do, so we were bored and it was hot. I tried to invite you, remember? But you said no, you were too busy. In fact...." He jogged a bit ahead of Stone and put a hand on the other male's chest to stop him. "You've been saying no every time I invite you to do something with me. Even when we're partnering up for training or even when we're splitting up on an actual mission. What's going on?"

Jacob looked down at the thief and hesitated. He cleared his throat and shook his head at him. "Sorry, Zeke. But you're not the only one who finds other things to do to entertain himself." He pushed passed his fellow Librarian. 

"Since when do you call me Zeke?" Ezekiel called after him. He ran to catch up with the country boy.

"I don't know. Thought you might deserve a nickname. We've all got one." 

"Uh, that's not true. Flynn hates having nicknames for himself unless they depict how great he is-"

"Great! Go get him to hang out with you. You'd have great tales to share with each other making your egos a little bit more luminous." 

Once again, Ezekiel got in front of Stone to stop him, his expression demanding. "Why are you avoiding me?" It was a blunt question, with very little leading up to it. Ezekiel wasn't the most intelligent person on the planet, but he certainly wasn't the dumbest either. He was observant, and he could see when people were trying to avoid him. He was used to it; it was in his nature to be a bit annoying.

Stone took a step back, a bit surprised by the question. But he knew this would come some day. He'd been avoiding Ezekiel for about a week now and he could see it was bothering his friend. But he wasn't going to admit to it. "I'm not avoiding you."

Ezekiel folded his arms across his chest as he glowered. "Last night was when we were supposed to eat pizza and play video games together."

Stone sighed slightly as he was tempted to roll his eyes. Why did The Library decide to give itself its own gaming room in the first place? It probably just wanted a place to put Ezekiel when he needed to be occupied. "Ah, yeah, I... forgot."

Ezekiel wasn't buying it. "You? Forget?" He laughed sarcastically. "What an accomplishment!" 

"Zeke-"

"Stop calling me that!" 

Stone pursed his lips in response. He really didn't want to make this worse than it was. "I just had work to do."

"Work to do? We haven't had anything to do for almost a week! What could you possibly be doing, Bookworm?!" 

"Bookworm?!"

"Yeah. You've been reading a lot of books lately. Don't look so surprised. I notice things, too, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't know you could without some sort of screen in front of your face."

"Wow. Just, wow." 

Stone started to feel anger boiling up inside of him. He just wanted Ezekiel to leave him alone so he could get his thoughts back in order, figure himself out. He felt like he was being backed into a corner, being forced to admit something he didn't want to admit. And just like a wild animal, he was about to snap.

"Now tell me the real reason you're avoiding me." Ezekiel looked determined to figure out what was going on.

"I'm not avoiding you!" Stone yelled. He turned red in the face. "Why are you so freaking annoying?! If I don't want to hang out with you, I just don't want to hang out with you! Maybe it was a mistake I ever gave you my respect! It was a whole lot better when I didn't associate myself with a jackass criminal like you!" 

There it was. The snap. Stone immediately regretted it as his brain had time to process what his mouth had just spat out. He looked at Ezekiel desperately. "I'm sorry, man. I've just got a lot of-"

"No, it's fine. I- I get it. At least I now know you never really meant for it to get this far." Ezekiel turned to go, trying to hide the pain in his expression. He hated feeling like this. It left him feeling helpless and vulnerable. He felt a strong hand grip his arm. He turned to look back. Stone was looking at him with a face full of regret. "Please, Jones, I didn't mean it."

"Save it for the judge," was the curt reply. The thief pulled himself out of Jacob Stone's grasp and rushed off, not looking back even once.

Stone stood there, the book he'd grabbed a little bit earlier still in his hand as he watched his thief go downstairs. Wait, his thief? Where did that come from? He looked away and shook the thought away. He sounded possessive, and there was no way he was claiming Ezekiel Jones as his own. Maybe a friend or brother, but never something he owned.

He turned to walk the opposite way of Ezekiel, his mind racing too fast for his liking. Then he got another heart attack as Cassandra jumped out from behind the next aisle of books. "Cassandra, don't do that!"

Cassandra beamed at him as she laughed. "I got you!" She exclaimed, pointing at him. "Did the couple get into a fight?"

Stone snorted with derision and pushed passed her. "We are not a couple!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Suddenly, Ezekiel was yelling from down below. "Guys, guys, come look at this! The Clippings Book has found us something to do!"


	2. The Jinn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Clippings Book sends the team to the back streets of Boston. But this mission may be more than meets the eye.

The door hummed to life and the team stumbled out onto a quiet street on the outskirts of a town. More like a city, actually. The Clippings Book had pointed them here on the account of perfectly good people suddenly doing criminal things. They had no criminal record and their family members could vouch for great character. So the sudden change in behavior.... it was unexplainable.

Stone glanced over at Ezekiel as they were taking in their surroundings. He could see that the Australian was doing his best to ignore him. Who could blame him? That fight was uncalled for. Stone should've just told the truth.

Cassandra seemed pleased with where they had been sent. She was already making her way down the street. "Good ol' Boston, with its red socks and rich history."

Eve frowned lightly at Cassandra. "You're talking about the baseball team, right? Bostonians don't actually wear red socks everyday."

Cassandra seemed to play it cool, which totally told the others she wasn't talking about the baseball team. She shivered and hugged herself. "Jenkins was right. It is cold here."

"I'm pretty sure we all told you that, Cassandra," Ezekiel retorted. He had come better prepared. Coming from Australia, he had little experience with cold places. They seemed even colder to him, even if it would be only sixty eight degrees. It was part of the reason why he wore lightweight jackets and hoodies all the time. But here in Boston, he was wearing a full blown, navy blue coat.

Cassandra managed to still stay positive. "Well, you were all right. But now I can't focus, because I'm freezing. Let's find a store with some coats!"

Ezekiel rushed to be ahead of the group. "No, I'll grab you a coat. You guys go start.... somewhere. Where would you guys start?"

Stone frowned at Ezekiel's behavior. Even if he'd upset the thief, that didn't mean Ezekiel had to put space between himself and the rest of the team. But he didn't want Cassandra freezing to death either. "We'll start at the city jail," he decided. "We'll be able to interview those who've been acting up lately."

Ezekiel seemed to agree wholeheartedly. "Yeah, you can go there on your own. I don't want to risk getting caught there. There's definitely going to be somebody who recognizes me."

Stone scoffed lightly. "What's this? Is the world class thief afraid he's gonna get caught?"

It was Ezekiel's turn to scoff. "No, I didn't say that. I don't want to go to the trouble of escaping. It's hard work and I'm lazy."

Cassandra looked confused. "But don't you have to worry about that when you go steal my coat?"

"No. That's a piece of cake and takes hardly any effort. A jail is a bit harder." Ezekiel began to split off when Eve grabbed his arm.

"Nope, you're coming, too. I don't like us splitting up when we hardly know anything about what is happening here," she said. "We'll buy a coat along the way."

Ezekiel pulled his arm free of their guardian's grasp as he sent a sharp glare her way. He then sighed as he replied, "I thought we went over this before. Splitting up isn't that bad. Especially since we desperately need a quick errand because somebody didn't think it would be that cold."

Cassandra gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry..."

Eve took a deep breath as she thought about it. Then she huffed and shrugged. "Fine, we'll split up. Take Stone with-"

"No, no. I can do it on my own. It's just a clothes store. I don't need any help." Ezekiel was already moving away from the group. He cast an angry look in Stone's direction.

Stone stood there, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut as he watched Ezekiel hurry off. He then glared at Cassandra as he heard her making a mocking sound. "Knock it off."

Cassandra flinched slightly at his harsh tone. "Okay, sorry. I was only teasing."

"Did our favorite couple have a fight?" Eve gave a slightly cruel smile as she studied Stone. 

"We. Are. Not. A. Couple." Stone's voice became a dangerously low tone as he angrily looked at the remainder of the team. Then he started to march down the street, looking to get directions to the city jail. He didn't notice how his friends parted for him, giving him concerned looks as they did so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stone sat behind the table, with the glass pane separating him from whomever would be coming in for him to talk to. He could sense Eve and Cassandra standing behind him. He turned his head slightly, hearing them whispering softly to one another. "I know you're talking about me," he told them. He turned back around when the whispering instantly stopped.

A woman in an orange jumpsuit was led into the room on the other side of the glass. Stone quickly picked up the phone on his side. His eyes met hers and he could see the fear in her brown eyes. "Hello," he said, not sure how he should introduce himself this time.

"Who are you?" The woman asked through the phone on her side.

"I am Jacob Stone. I'm a Librarian." He tried not to grimace visibly, waiting for the whole Librarian thing Flynn did all the time to fail for him, just like it did every time.

The woman paused for a moment, looking like her brain was processing what had been said. Then she gave a light smile. "What interest does a librarian have in me?" She asked. "Are you writing a book?"

Jacob's amazement showed on his face as he looked back at his companions. They, too, seemed to have gathered that the librarian thing had worked for him. He turned back to the woman on the other side of the glass. He continued speaking into the phone. "Could you please tell me your name?"

"Ehsan Al Dagher," she said.

"Your Islamic?"

"How did you know?"

"It's just your name is Arabic, and you have a bit of an accent. Just wondering."

"It is true, I am Muslim. But that does not make me a terrible person. I don't know what came over me. In fact, I do not remember any of the events that occurred to get me here, in jail."

"You don't remember?" Jacob frowned, trying to think of all the stuff he knew. What would cause someone to do something out of character and then completely forget what happened? Of course it was magic. They had already decided that; why else would the clippings book send them?

"No, I cannot."

"Could you tell me what could've caused this? It's alright if the answer sounds too hard to believe. I am a pretty open minded guy."

Ehsan twiddled her thumbs for a moment, then gave a light nod. "It was a jinn."

"A jinn?"

"Yes, an Islamic demon. Some would call them a genie."

"You mean those things that come out of lamps?"

"They do not just come from lamps, I assure you. Plenty of items have the power to hold such an evil being."

Jacob gave a little nod before thanking her for her help. He wished her luck, then hung the phone up. He rose to his feet and turned to his friends. "So what we're looking for is a jinn, better known by us Americans as a genie."

"You mean like in Aladdin?" Cassandra asked. "I only saw that movie once, and even then, I only saw the beginning. My parents weren't too big on that type of thing for me."

Jacob started heading out of the jail, a gruff expression on his face. "That's terrible. That's one of the better ones, too. Anyways, apparently it's an Islamic demon that can possess people and just cause problems. That's what the lady said would've caused her to act so strange."

Eve frowned as they stepped out into the freezing Boston air. "We should probably touch base with Jenkins and get some more information on this Jinn thing."

A person standing just a few feet away with a fur lined coat, hood up turned towards them, a pink coat draped over one arm. "Hullo, mates," Ezekiel greeted with a tight smile. He handed Cassandra her coat with flourish. Then he turned to Eve. "So we need a mirror? How about we stop by the little L library and use the restroom?"

Eve tilted his head at the thief. "How much did you overhear?"

"Just everything you said the whole time. I've rigged your phone's so I can hear what you guys say when I'm not around. Don't worry. I turn it off when I'm not interested."

Jacob's eyes flew wide as he ripped his phone out of his pocket. "You did what?" He examined his phone closely, trying to figure out where the bug was. "You are a complete idiot! There's this thing called privacy!"

The girls were looking a bit upset as well, but the Australian threw up his hands defensively. "Hey, at least now you don't have to catch me up to speed, because I'm going the same speed from listening in."

The others all grudgingly agreed, eyes narrowed some. "Let's head to the nearest place with bathrooms so we can borrow one of the mirrors," Eve huffed.

They started down the steps from the jail and down the street. They were all focused on getting somewhere they could get in touch with Jenkins easily, until their thief, once again, broke the silence.

"So, I'm only guessing here, because in no way do I already know the answer from eavesdropping, but.... we're looking out for a genie, right?"

"A jinn, but yeah," Jacob said, coming to a halt to look back at Ezekiel who had stopped a few paces behind. The girls were quick to realize the boys had come to a stop and also stopped. 

"Hey,boys, hurry up," Eve called.

Ezekiel ignored the colonel. "Does it happen to look like an evil Genie from Aladdin?"

"I suppose it does," Jacob shrugged and nodded his head. "Why?"

"Because it's right over there." Ezekiel pointed to across the street where a bluish man with wispiness from the waist down hovered for a second. The team stared straight at it, and it started straight at them. Then it phased out of sight.

"Okay, we really need to talk to Jenkins now," Cassandra squeaked. "Like, ASAP."

The team agreed and started running, seeking out the best next building with a secret place for them to set up a magic mirror connection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter was pretty long, and it took forever to get it out. I get distracted so easily, haha! But hopefully you enjoyed it, despite the wait!

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you guys liked this. Comments are appreciated. They help me know people are actually interested in my stuff. Feedback is appreciated, too, and any suggestions you may have.


End file.
